(The Nationalist, December 2003)
Many things in our society point to an underdeveloped, weak, or smothered conscience:
– naïve ideas about human goodness, despite living in perhaps the most violent period in human history.
There have been 250 wars since World War II, and history’s greatest mass murderers have lived in the twentieth century;
– that century invented and perfected the concentration camp;
– the most popular videos are those on violence and sex;
– in Ireland we have a murder rate which older people find unbelievable;
– one baby in twelve conceived in Ireland, and one in four conceived by a single mother, is aborted;
– fraudulent claims for insurance, social welfare, and compensation are seen as alright, maybe even a right;
– lying is excused by subterfuges: necessity, public relations, toeing a party line, what you can get away with, etc.;
– in court cases, it’s often fairly clear that somebody is committing perjury.
Our conscience has been dulled by the repetition of evil, for instance, by hearing of murder again and again. We have lost a sense of the evil of taking human life.
And one of the neglected areas of conscience has to do with social morality, with economic, social and political decision-making.
One of the causes of this change is the repeated neglect or suppression of conscience in minor matters.
Conscience is not “Doing your own thing” in the name of personal freedom, subject only to every fashion that comes along. That is arbitrary, selective and individualistic.
Conscience is not a soft option, but demands that we:
– fight against habits of sin which stifle it or blind us to its claims;
– work through the difficult demands that it makes of us;
– face difficult choices and be accountable for them;
– consider seriously the effect of our decisions on others;
– be prepared to go against the current of public opinion and stand alone;
– be prepared to go against our self-will – the most difficult challenge of all;
– make a real effort to inform ourselves, to overcome our ignorance.
Conscience needs to be formed by, and, in turn, to inform, the faith and life of the Christian community. It recognizes that all truth is God’s truth, however it is mediated to us.
Conscience brings us face to face with God:
- it makes us mature human beings, responsible and accountable, without self-deception;
- it makes us free, because ‘the truth shall make you free’;
- it makes for good human relations, good health of soul, mind and body.